14 Dec 2018

The District Plan will be amended to provide clarity over what building activity can occur in flood-prone coastal areas of the city.

The Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration today announced she has accepted the Council’s proposal, and will use her powers under section 71 of the

An aerial photo of the Christchurch coastline.

The plan change clarifies building rules in some coastal areas.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act to amend the District Plan to:

  • Clarify the policy needed to support areas where the risk of flooding is predominantly from future sea level rise.
  • Permit people with vacant sites (where houses have been demolished since the earthquakes) to rebuild houses of a similar size to what was there, without the need for a resource consent within the Residential Unit Overlay. 

“We asked that these changes were considered with urgency, and we are grateful to the Minister for doing this, and for accepting the proposal. I’d also like to thank Council staff who worked hard to put a considered proposal together, in a very short timeframe,” says Mayor Lianne Dalziel.

“We can now provide that all important clarity to people who want to build in these locations,” she says.

Council staff have developed information to support the proposed District Plan changes, including guidance for property owners and for planners processing resource consents.

Staff are also developing a programme to monitor the impacts of the changes.